In many ways it was a very good year NOT to be in Michigan and spend autumn Saturday afternoons in Ann Arbor. Had we been to every game in person, my poor husband would have been downing ulcer medication by the fistful!
On the other hand, by the time the Northwestern game came 'round, we couldn't even sell our tickets for face value (thanks, Rich Rod!).
But, in the words of Little Orphan Annie "The sun will come out tomorrow. . ."
A future UM Wolverine (?) Miles wears his first maize-n-blue gear (a gift from longtime Altrusa friend, Tina Szarenski and her family. . .also UM fans) while sitting in Grandpa's new recliner chair. Our luck, the Miley-Guy will choose UM (or, bowing to his father's roots. . .sshhh. . .another Big Ten school located in Columbus) . . . and we'll again be 1,800 miles away!
In any regard, I think the college bowl games come to a close this week . . . is the BCS Bowl on Thursday? . . . Glenn has watched so many of them on t.v. that, in Erma Bombeck's words ". . .anyone who watches five football games in one day should be declared legally dead."
Personally, I did miss those Saturday afternoons at the BIG HOUSE this past season. . .the crowds, the crazies, the band and the football. . . but certainly am also glad that if we had to make a break it was this year! AARGH!!
Other things I miss being out here. . .
*Cranberries -- yeah. At Thanksgiving time, there were some fresh cranberries available. Planning to continue my normal routine (especially since we didn't really move into this house until the Saturday after), I didn't stock up then. Figured I just buy my usual many bags for the freezer nearer to Christmas. Guess what? They disappeared! As soon as the big Turkey Day festivities were over, the cranberries disappeared! No cranberry jam this year. No cooked cranberries to accompany the occasional chicken or fish dinner. No cranberry bread. Sigh. I miss them already!
*Double Coupons - Got addicted to that marketing program via Kroger's in Frankenmuth. One Sunday about 4-6 weeks ago, the K-Mart ad in the local paper proclaimed "Double coupons up to $2.00!" Well, Megzo and I just clipped our hearts out and headed to the land of flashing blue lights. We stocked up on all sorts of paper products as well as health and personal care items. I keep watching for that promotion again. . . but none yet.
*My Local Library - Inkom doesn't have its own branch of the South Bannock County Library system. It's supposed to be visited by the Bookmobile, but that's been 'in the shop' since we arrived. I do have a library card in Pocatello as well, but it's sort of like borrowing a book from Hoyt Library in Saginaw when I lived in Reese. Ya really gotta go out of your way . . . . I also miss my Reese Library because of convenience (actually, as Board president I even had a key!). Picking up the mail on a daily basis, I drove to the post office and past the library each morning . . . and could pop in any time to grab something. I really, really miss the MelCat system (Michigan Electronic Library Catalog) which allowed me to search library collections from all over the state and order/borrow online. Sigh. A good example of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
*Curbside Recycling - Wow! Garbage pick up out here is interesting. First off, it's not billed directly as part of property taxes. You may choose to have trash pick-up or not. Some new acquaintances don't pay for garbage pick-up. Instead, they visit the local landfill about once every 2-3 months and pay an average of $3.00 per trip to dispose of trash. Like us, they are avid recyclers and produce relatively little trash. However, out here, recycling is something of a challenge. Curbside is NOT available where we live. In the city of Pocatello, subscribers may get curbside recycle IF they pay an additional $5.00 per month. We now must take all of our recyclables into the city of Pocatello to one of five or six collection spots. Unusual, also, is that they do not recycle any glass. We now pay $16/month (rental of a can + pick-up) to put out one garbage can of trash each week. Period. Anything we put out MUST fit in the can.
So, I miss my old garbage guys! First, we could put out mounds of stuff . . . any stuff. . .and they'd pick it up! Mattresses, sofas, you name it. If they could physically wrestle it into their truck, they took it! Plus, we had curbside recycling of cardboard, paper, plastic, glass and metal every-other-week. Wow. Who would've thought I'd miss the garbage guys?
For anyone reading this, of course I miss people, places, things. . .but these are just a couple of examples of how life changes when the locale does.
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